LOSSES associated with Internet banking fraud rose 17 per cent last year, according to data from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).

The central bank, in response to queries from the Jamaica Observer, shared data showing that banks report a total loss of $81.23 million for Internet banking fraud. That was up from the $69.4 million in fraud-related losses the island’s commercial banks reported a year earlier.

And, whereas there were 52 incidents of account hacking in 2020, this number climbed to 84 in 2021, the BOJ disclosed in the information sent to the Business Observer.

However, the Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA) shared in the last week of January that no local bank has ever been hacked, and that where clients have suffered from cybercrime, it is due to their own disclosure of information to third parties, which was then used to access their bank accounts.

Richard Murray, executive director of the JBA, informed the Business Observer that no local bank has ever been hacked.

Further, another JBA source clarified that client cybercrime events originated, in all cases, from the behaviour of clients who either voluntarily or involuntarily provide account information which is then used to break account security.

This source said that one major tool being used by banks to reduce cybercrime was client education, as it is their behaviour to which breaches are attributed.

The BOJ’s estimate of reporting compliance of Internet fraud from local banks is over 90 per cent.

It was noted, “The submission rate for commercial banks over the two-year period was 96.1 per cent. It is not the BOJ’s practice to disseminate information on an entity by entity level.”

The BOJ indicated that for overall fraud statistics among licensed institutions, a comprehensive review will be provided in its Annual Financial Stability Report (2021) due for publication on March 31, 2022.

In January 2022, CIBC bank ran an online advertising series stating that it was the safest bank, but when contacted by the Business Observer and asked to share data related to the claim, they said they were unaware of the advertisement.

The JBA executive director Murray said that the body no longer collates fraud data, but each bank now reports directly to the central bank.

The JBA promised an update on strategies being used to reduce the incidence of fraud.

In December 2021, however, it was disclosed that the JBA has underwritten the Government’s national cybersecurity public education and awareness campaign to the tune of $15 million.

Several member institutions, including the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Scotiabank, CIBC/FirstCaribbean Bank, First Global Bank and Sagicor Bank, are providing the money, it was indicated.

The campaign is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, with additional support from the Universal Service Fund (USF).

Objectives are to heighten awareness about the potential risks associated with using the Internet and social media platforms.

It was said that a wide range of educational and promotional formats will be used, including billboards, brochures, print, electronic and social media messaging, and posters.

At the launch in December, it was outlined that a 2013 United Nations study showed that as many as 17 per cent of global Internet and social media users had been affected by some form of cybercrime.

The Cyber Security Public Education and Awareness Campaign is a policy objective under Jamaica’s National Cyber Security Strategy.